Nigeria Conducts Mass Burial for Over 40 Farmers Slain by Insurgents

Synopsis

Nigerian authorities organized a mass burial for over 40 farmers believed to have been killed by insurgents in Borno. The attack, which occurred in a farming community near Lake Chad, has raised serious concerns regarding security in the region, as many farmers are forced to pay levies to terrorist groups.

Key Takeaways

Nigerian authorities held a mass burial for over 40 farmers.
The farmers were killed in an insurgent attack in Borno.
Victims had negotiated 'security levies' for access to farmland.
Government suspects Boko Haram and ISWAP involvement.
Armed assaults remain a major security threat in northern Nigeria.

Abuja, Jan 14 (NationPress) Nigerian officials on Tuesday conducted a mass burial for a minimum of 40 farmers believed to have been slain by insurgents during a recent assault in the northeastern region of Borno, which shares a border with Chad.

The victims were gunned down late Sunday when a group of insurgents captured numerous farmers and executed them in Dumba, a farming locality adjacent to Lake Chad. This was confirmed by Usman Tar, the Commissioner for Information in Borno, in a statement released on Monday.

While acknowledging that initial reports suggested approximately 40 farmers lost their lives and that efforts were underway to locate many who escaped for a reunion with their families, Tar indicated that the government suspects Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) to be responsible for the heinous act.

A senior security official, who preferred to remain anonymous, informed Xinhua news agency that the bodies of at least 40 deceased farmers had been discovered, and a mass burial was held on Tuesday morning at a yet undisclosed site in Borno.

The official warned that the number of casualties might rise, as insurgents had rounded up over 70 farmers, separating women and children from the men during the raid.

Zagazola Makama, a counterterrorism specialist in the Lake Chad area, indicated to Xinhua that the farmers had previously negotiated and paid “security levies” to a faction of ISWAP to gain access to their agricultural lands. However, another faction of the group, allegedly unaware of this agreement, subsequently attacked and killed the farmers.

As reported by the local Business Day newspaper, in numerous regions of northern Nigeria, farmers and local inhabitants are compelled to pay levies or taxes to terrorist organizations or bandits in return for permission to utilize their lands or to receive protection from assaults.

Despite the government's military efforts, armed assaults continue to pose a significant security threat in northern and central Nigeria, frequently resulting in fatalities and abductions.